TABLE 2.
Summary results from 4-group meta-analyses of serum retinol and ferritin in apparently healthy subjects1
| Retinol (n = 4) |
Ferritin (n = 22) |
|||
| Group comparison | Mean (95% CI) | P | Mean (95% CI) | P |
| Reference vs. incubation | 1.15 (0.98, 1.36) | 0.09 | 1.30 (1.15, 1.47) | <0.001 |
| Reference vs. early convalescence | 1.32 (1.12, 1.55) | 0.001 | 1.90 (1.51, 2.37) | <0.001 |
| Reference vs. late convalescence | 1.12 (0.94, 1.34) | 0.18 | 1.36 (1.19, 1.55) | <0.001 |
1
Values are mean (95% CI) ratios of the geometric mean nutrient concentrations for the respective pairs from the 4-group analyses. For retinol, the 4 studies were all conducted in preschool-aged children, but similar mean ratios (1.14, 1.31, and 1.12) were obtained when 7 studies were included in the analysis by adding Nepalese pregnant women, neonates, and another study in preschool-aged children (2, 3) (see Table 1 for more details).